


Markarth

by SoulStealer1987



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, I'm not kidding, Karliah Falls Off A Mountain, Markarth, Pre-Mercer-Being-A-Butt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 07:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14280432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulStealer1987/pseuds/SoulStealer1987
Summary: "...and you won't fall off a mountain like in Markarth."Karliah falls off a mountain. In Markarth. That's literally it. (Takes place before Mercer did his thing, so Gallus is alive.)





	Markarth

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Nightingale Dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/works/483254) by [missema](https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema). 



> Inspired by the aforementioned line, I couldn't resist writing something involving it, because when someone off-handedly mentions FALLING OFF A MOUNTAIN, there's definitely a story of some sort there.
> 
> Go read that awesome oneshot too if you need more Galliah. I know I need more Galliah. 
> 
> I WILL FILL THIS TAG MYSELF IF I HAVE TO.

Karliah doesn't like Markarth, but then again, few do. The entirety of the Reach is disliked by the vast majority of Skyrim, mostly due to the Forsworn, and Markarth itself isn't much better. In Karliah's opinion, it's far worse, for one very important reason: Cidhna Mine, or as it's better known around the Guild, every thief's worst nightmare. Karliah's never disagreed. The prison is rumored to be inescapable, and the few thieves from the Guild unlucky enough to find themselves thrown in always seem to turn up dead before Gallus can secure their release.

The whistle of an arrow passing far too close to Karliah's head snaps her back into focus. She stumbles backwards, pressing her body further against the rock wall and biting back a few choice words that would have surprised even Gallus, used to foul language as he is from running a guild of thieves.

Gallus... he'd been more than a little worried, and for good reason. The Guild's ties with Markarth have been more than a little strained as of late, and somehow, Karliah gets the feeling that these aren't the kind of guards you can pay off to look the other way. Unless she can escape, and the possibilities of that are looking slimmer by the second, her options are to fight and die, or surrender and die in the mines.

Karliah hears the unmistakable twang of an arrow being released, and this one lodges itself in the rock wall just above her head.

A warning shot. How considerate.

Personally, Karliah would have thought the first shot constituted more than enough of a warning shot, but she's not complaining, at least not about that. As she rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding an arrow that was very clearly meant to cripple or kill (she can't be bothered to guess at which right now), she mentally curses the fact that at least one of the guards here happens to know their way around a bow enough to pose a threat. Gallus will want to know about that, but first Karliah has to escape.

"Surrender now, and you won't spend long in Cidhna Mine," calls a voice, presumably a guard. Karliah isn't going to do anything of the sort. Slowly, carefully, she reaches for her bow. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Defiantly, Karliah grabs her bow, making no attempt to conceal her intentions any longer, and takes a step back.

That step back is her almost-fatal mistake, because it doesn't find solid ground. Karliah steps back onto thin air, and in the time it takes her to realize her mistake, she's already falling.

Karliah hits the ground with a muffled thud, and while she suspects she'll be lucky to have nothing broken after a fall like that, she's got more pressing concerns. Like, for example, the fact that she can barely breathe. Hopefully that's just the breath being knocked out of her, but even if it is, there's still the issue of the guard(s) pursuing her.

"Lorkhan's eyes, I think you killed her!"

Karliah takes the hint and doesn't move a muscle, keeps her breathing shallow - not that she can take a deep breath right now, of course - and is suddenly very glad she has her hood up, because it obscures her face quite a lot.

"If that bloody thief is dead, it's because of her own stupidity, not because of me."

There's definitely at least two guards, one of whom is the marksman, and they're definitely coming over to check. Karliah feels rather than hears them approach, and holds her breath. Her heart's pounding so loud that she doesn't know how they don't hear it, too, but they don't, somehow, and she stays still. Luck, at least, is still on Karliah's side tonight.

"Aw, damn, she's definitely dead. I don't fancy dragging any bodies into the Hall of the Dead tonight, so  how about we just pretend she fell to her death on her own, and pretend we had nothing to do with it?"

Gallus would be making a witty remark about corruption right about now, or at least thinking it. Karliah's a little too on edge to think of anything that witty right now.

"...fine, but you owe me a drink."

The footsteps continue, but this time they're receding. Karliah waits until she hears a door open and shut before allowing herself to take a deep breath, and she definitely needed it.

Karliah slowly, painfully gets to her feet, and while nothing's broken as far as she can tell, that doesn't mean she isn't hurting all over right now. As she limps out of Markarth, she supposes at least one good thing came out of this: the job she was supposed to be doing is already done. If it hadn't been, she's not sure she could have finished it.

When Karliah steps into the Cistern several days later, her gaze finds Gallus almost immediately, behind his desk as usual. He looks immensely relieved, and then concerned as he takes in her appearance. She heads over, not bothering to hide her limp. It's mostly gone at this point, anyway.

"What happened?" Gallus asks with far more concern in his words than she'd thought even he was capable of, and considering this is Gallus she’s referring to, that’s certainly saying something. Karliah laughs humorlessly.

"Would you believe me if I said I fell off a mountain?”

**Author's Note:**

> I do have a Tumblr! It's [Crazy Fic Lady](http://soulstealer1987.tumblr.com/), so hit me up if you want. I might post extra stuff there.


End file.
